


Blair's Approach to Teaching

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-09 08:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17998238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: The title says it all





	Blair's Approach to Teaching

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Sentinel Thursday prompt discipline

Blair's Approach to Teaching

by Bluewolf

Blair had, in general, a fairly relaxed attitude to discipline. Not for him the inflexible 'Sit up, pay attention and take notes' attitude of one or two of Rainier's older lecturers. He welcomed comments from his students as long as they put a hand up and waited for him to acknowledge them. However, he did stamp hard on anyone who - unless the 'subject' of the lecture was a discussion - just yelled out a comment. Politeness, he pointed out, was the lubricant that made the world move smoothly - even when dealing with jungle tribes.

But he did expect his students to _work_. To show up at lectures. To show, in their written work, that they had been paying attention - even when anthropology was what might be called a 'filler' subject being used by students on a sports scholarship to meet their academic requirements. Early in his career as a TA, Blair had been physically threatened by one of those sports jocks. The sports students were still being warned by their fellows not to take Mr. Sandburg lightly; Blair had a knowledge of several martial arts that had allowed him to tie his would-be intimidator in knots.

Some students took being away from home and being their own - well, masters - as an excuse for doing whatever they wanted, for living it up, having an unobstructed social life, forgetting that at the end of the day they would have to face their parents with their final results.

There was one professor whose system of discipline was to pay no attention to absenteeism, and then give those who failed to attend lectures a blanket F. Certainly it worked; but that F affected the students' over-all results, and Blair was far from sure it was a truly effective means of promoting the self-discipline that he believed was part of what the students should learn at university.

No. Blair encouraged his students to be conscientious; to develop a work ethic; to be self-disciplined; to be responsible adults, not irresponsible children. And for that, he was respected, not only by the students, but by most of the TAs (who tried to emulate him) and many of the tenured staff as well.


End file.
